Chronicle of the Balanced Evil
by Scarecrow-Alone
Summary: A seperate world has cast a new evil into Hyrule. The Hero of Time is once again called to combat the shadows, but Link's darkness may have become more than just a shade of himself....
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but this story, which is not being written for profit...You sue me and I'll...Ummmmmmmm...Cry

Okies folks, If any of you have read my other two stories, which turned up as screw-ups, because I ran out of ideas and crap pretty early on, I'm sorry for just abandoning them. I thought I'd bounce back with something I'm pretty sure I can write. I'd appreciate any feed-back you'd like to give, as long as it's to the point and not a rant.

, **Scarecrow**

(Prologue)

The vast and beautiful plains were standing in the final moments of sunlight, all of it held in that unshakable embrace of unearthly serenity. The wind picked up over a rise, pulling at the tall grass in a wave of amber and topaz. The harvesting season was about, giving the land the warning signs of an ending summer.

Only a few moments to go. The sun was dropping perfectly into the far mountains. Dozens of small animals twittered about, and raced home to their dens and nests, before the night's quiet predators began their rounds. The birds were all leaving their songs to rest, finding a branch to take perch. The insects were beginning their reedy chorus, and the first vixen poked her head out of her home.

Then a strange thing happened. It was sudden and unthought-of for so many wild creatures.

It was totally silent. Not even the wind dared to speak.

The sun finished it's dive, all the world falling to the mercy of the moon.

The supreme silence was obliterated by a tremendous crack of earsplitting sound, the element of surprise augmented by the brilliant orange and red flash of light.

The very next sound after that earth shattering boom, was the harsh ring of steel on steel. All life on the plains focused on the two intruders who had smashed their peaceful cycle of events.

The figures were not hard to see, as the moon was already at the edge of the world. One was a dead-giveaway soldier, his armor and helmeted head clinging loudly at every move. The helmet was a magnificent silver, emblazoned by the moon's aid. Several gilded designs were inlaid to it, and near the top were two layer like protrusions that folded in a neat arch that were pointed back slightly. His chest plate was plain, but matched the sheen of his helmet, as did the rest of his attire. A visor was pressed down over his eyes, but his lower jaw was just visible.

The second was almost totally unremarkable, albeit slightly mysterious. The ragged cloak and hood were wrapped to conceal his entire form, with the help of a set of leather gloves, and a cloth face cover. The shadows did the work of hiding his eyes. The small and lean form suggested that it was a female. A stitched design was laid out across the person's back. Two semi-circles nearly touching, but separated by a strand of symbols and runes moving vertically down the garment.

Both held a strange style of weapon. The armored individual with a long, black blade with barb-like protrusions covering it. The other carried a staff-like instrument, with a totally straight blade on one side, and a curved falchion blade on the other.

Both were fighting fiercely against the other, and it was clear who had the advantage. While the smaller had a definite maneuvering ability, the soldier had brute strength and was wearing a ton of weight to throw around. He was driving the other person back quickly, and the hooded individual was starting to slow in reactions. A fast and relentless slash at the left side of the figure was rewarded by a high scream, now clearly female. A rather large wound was now painted across her side, crimson rivulets running down her leg and staining the grass.

The man stood up straighter, and waited for her to stagger several steps back before pointed his sword at her side.

"You've lost, little witch. Tell me where you've brought me, and I'll end you quickly."

Her ragged breath was an indication that she was quickly losing strength, "I've taken you where you don't have the luxury of your army behind you. Here, is where you will meet your death, to warriors who have fought and triumphed against the gods themselves!"

He did not respond, but his furious emotions spewed forth faintly in his stone-stillness. After several moments of contemplation, he raised his sword and stepped forth to bring his weapon down upon the now immobile figure, "Then let's see if YOU can challenge the gods as well."

A massive explosion of light once again illuminated the plains, and the man fell backwards, shielding his eyes.

Moments later he was on his feet again. His insane rage burst forth once he realized that his opponent was not there anymore.

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In a small bend of woods a good many miles away, a young man was sitting with a long wooden pole, a line stretching from it's tip down to drag in the river rapids he was fishing at. He tugged up at the stick every now and then, a bright orange bobber coming up with it.

The boy sighed. It was finally time for the harvest, if no fish were biting anymore. He stood up and began disassembling the fishing pole, and he turned to walk a few paces over to the large, beautiful horse. He packed away his tools and bait to a satchel on her saddle.

He rubbed her back for a good bit before he heard an almost imperceptible gasp back near the river. He turned and stalked quietly back and quickly scanned the river-bank.

There, half-dragging herself up the muddy edge, was a girl his age, face pale and twisted in pain. Her would-be cloak was torn and shredded, the hood gone, and the right sleeve as well. There were dozens of tears and holes in the garb. He stood for several seconds before the situation finally drove into his head.

He drove up mud as he ran to her, grabbing her arms and flipping her on her back. Scooping under her legs and neck, he lifted her easily, and ran over to rest her on the horse's back. It was then he saw the large stain of red on her side. Wincing when he saw it, he began to search through the saddle bags. After several moments, he came up with a small glass bottle. Within it was a tiny pink-clothed fairy, sitting up and rubbing her eyes from the sudden disruption of her sleep.

He gently tilted to bottle to where the fairy half-rolled out of it onto his palm, "I need your help, little miss." Her face lit up in a smile and she nodded quickly. Taking flight, she hovered over the girl's wound. Extending her minuscule arm, a faint pink dust dropped onto the girl's side.

Waiting patiently, Link leaned forward and thanked the fairy. She gave a comical little bow and flew off into the woods.

With a grunt, he was up on Epona's back and racing to the village at high speed.

now press the review button o.O


	2. An Eventful Morning

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but this story, which is not being written for profit...You sue me and I'll...Ummmmmmmm...Cry

Hullo folks, hope you liked the prologue. I plan on starting out stuff slow while I draft out future chapters, so be happy. Same review rules as the prologue, no flaming or complaining, just comments or constructive criticism, please…..Oh, and by the way, I'm thinking of restarting my Outlander of Morrowind story…..Sooooo……..Keep an eye out.

, **Scarecrow**

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Chapter 1

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Link woke up with the usual feeling of contentment. Not having to deal with constant threats and being able to focus on the things in front of him, instead of checking his back every few seconds, brought a hero to a great sense of peace. He was back to helping with the herds, and doing a random errand run to Hyrule Castle or Kakariko every so often. It was always nice to stop to talk with Ranado, Luda and some of the Gorons.

Most everywhere he went he usually saw a familiar face. Except….for the castle. It was easy enough getting inside, because hardly a person in the city hadn't been told over-exaggerated stories about how he had helped destroy the barrier around the Castle, and his defeat of the returned Ganondorf….Though Link remembered nothing of any past dealings with Ganon before the business with Zant. He never got a chance to talk to Zelda.

She was almost always involved in some crisis or another presented by her little "advisors" and "helpers". As far as Link could tell, they were just a bunch of blabbering suck-ups. And it wasn't as if Zelda had given anyone reason to suspect her of being incapable of running things without their assistance.

He was hoping to talk to her sometime. She seemed to know the most about everything Hyrule had ever gone through, and Link was eager to learn as much about it as he could.

Link's thoughts turned suddenly to the surprise arrival almost a week ago. When he had brought her to the village, she had been muttering rapidly to herself. She had been placed in Link's bed while she was unconscious. Link had set up a pallet on the main level for himself, which he preferred anyway after the multiple times he had slept on the ground while on his adventures.

Ilia had been there to watch her while he was helping Fado manage the herds, in case she woke up. Link stood up and stretched. He was in the middle of scraping together a breakfast when he heard a loud thump from above. Looking up, his eyes narrowed. Wiping off his hands, he climbed the newly built stairs quietly, easily done without his boots. He reached the top, and was allowed a short chance to glance around before the girl jumped at him and nearly toppled him down the stairs.

Grunting, he caught his balance and grabbed her arm, rotating her around and locking her arms up behind her back. She was in the middle of struggling against his grip when he let go, hooked his leg around in front of her foot and shoved. She stumbled forward and nearly slammed her head against the wall before hitting the ground. Link stood with his arms crossed while she jumped up and swirled to face him, crouched in a hostile manner.

"Who are you?" She snarled, eyes darting wildly around the strange house.

Link blinked, "I think you should answer that first, seeing as _you_ are the one currently a guest in my home." His stance didn't falter, staring hard at her. He knew well the feeling of waking up in strange places. The thought brought flash-backs of his first moments in Hyrule Castle, and Midna. It made him smile just a bit.

Apparently, the girl noticed this, and she tilted her head, "What's so funny, you?"

Link shrugged, "Could you please be a bit less hostile, I'm not keeping you here against your will or anything." He turned and started back down the stairs, "Your clothes are in the chest by the bed……And don't worry, I had a friend change you." He had added the last bit after the girl had let out an audible gasp as she realized she was in a plain wool shirt and matching pants.


	3. A Problem

Disclaimer: Zelda's not mine. If it was, I would have given the Hero of Time a little more time with his personal life……Only this story is mine. No lawsuits please.

I apologize for the end of the first chapter. I guess I forgot to save it before I put it up. There was more in there. Ah well, I'll cover it in chapter 2.

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Chapter 2

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Link stepped lightly down the stairs, taking the last few steps with a leap. He went back over to the incomplete breakfast, and sighed. He'd have to eat it later, now that his appetite had taken a nap. Taking a few chunks of bread, cheese, and a dozen apples, he tossed it into a pack. The pad of bare feet reached his ears, and he turned. The girl had dressed, and was looking around uncertainly as she descended the steps.

She caught sight of him and tilted her head a fraction, "Everything here is wood."

He blinked and nodded, "That it is. It's because we're in a tree."

She seemed to find this a nutty idea, "Are you serious? Your trees are big enough to live in?"

He blinked again. His trees? How could she have not seen trees this size before. Well, her clothes definitely didn't seem Hyrulean. But then, neither did the Ordonian style. In fact she now seemed to notice what _he_ was wearing.

"What is that? I hope all of you people don't dress like that, or I'll die of laughter."

Insults now. Not very polite. Link frowned and pointed at the door, "Feel free to leave if you wish. Have a pleasant time with the woods, I'm sure the monkies have been dying to have a new traveler to annoy." In truth, he had found the antics of the monkies enjoyable…..or he had when he was a wolf, and could understand why they were pestering him.

The girl's face had a confused look now, "What are monkies?"

Link knew he shouldn't have found that question absurd. Outside of the forest, not many people had heard of monkies. But seeing as he had fished her off the banks of the river _in_ the forest, she could have at least encountered one of them. He shook it off, "Never mind. Listen, I have work to do. Stay here if you like, until I get back, or go on your own time. If you stay, there should be a girl coming. Her name's Ilia, and she'll be here to watch you…Or she would have if you were still asleep."

He moved to go, but she intercepted him, "Wait……..I……Don't really know where I am…"

Those traitorous eyes had once again blinked unbidden by Link, "Do you not? Well, where are you from, maybe I can point you in the right direction."

She looked down at her feet, "It's gonna sound stupid, but there's no direction that you could point me in. I'm not from this world."

Link's mind set ablaze. Dozens of possibilities crashed into his skull. But he checked them. She didn't have the skin or build of a Twili, so she couldn't be from the Twilight Realm.

A silence stretched for a good fifteen seconds or so.

Link tilted his head, "Then why are you here?"

She looked at him and sighed, "It's not important…..Listen, I need to talk to the one called Zelda…..It's really urgent. Or, maybe the one called the Hero of Time……Either one will be fine, all you have to do is tell me where they are."

Link nearly bust out laughing. He contemplated telling her who he was….But seeing as she was from a totally separate realm, and this matter was urgent, he didn't want more problems than he could solve.

"Well……….I can take you to Zelda….."

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Low, hypnotic voice Preeeeeesssss revieeeeeeewwwwwwww


	4. A Little Neutrality and Surprise

Disclaimer: Only the events in the story are mine. Not to mention the new characters I've thrown in. No suing please.

I'M TIRED OF WAITING!!! All you have to do is review ONCE after reading a chapter. It can be as small as a four letter word alone, and I won't care, as long as I get some bloody feedback! Yeesh, my patience is burned up…… soooooooo……..BLARG!

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Chapter 3

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"Ughh. If I'm going to eat that, at least tell me what it IS!"

The girl had revealed herself to the name of Zimera. A charming name in Link's opinion. She had demanded that he take her to Zelda immediately after he had told her he could. But rather than give in to her insistent rants and complaints, he had proceeded outside, down the ladder, and straight on through the village to the Ranch without so much as a backward glance when she screamed at him to come back.

After he had dealt with the work of the day, he informed Fado that he was going to be making a trip to the castle, and offered to pick up any supplies he needed. Afterwards he offered the same thing to Rusl and the Mayor. Upon returning to the clearing around his home, he found that the girl had by some stroke of bad luck ran into her first monkey. Needless to say she was thrilled.

Apparently, the little devil had snuck up on her while she was fuming at the top of the ladder, and snatched one of her sandal-like shoes. He found her on the ground staring daggers at the impish primate, whom had taken to taunting her by waving the shoe around. When she caught sight of him, she huffed up and crossed her arms, staring off into the woods. Link gave a secretively mischievous smile.

Crouching down and removing his boots, he started to tip-toe over to the tree the monkey had perched at. Being a silent as possible, he began climbing the tree, around the back where the fuzzy, miniature monster couldn't see him. Once he reached a level space with the monkey, he popped around the side, letting out a loud, rasping, roar-like sound. The monkey froze in fright, and fainted, slipping off the tree into the bushes below.

Checking his laughter, he dropped down and snatched up the shoe before the monkey woke up. He tossed it at the guest of honor, who gave a Hmph! and placed it back on her foot. He stood next to her and held out a hand to help her up. Although retaining her look of irritation, she took it.

"I'll take you to Castle Hyrule, but it'll be slow going without my horse. She doesn't like strangers much. Especially not temperamental ones." He chuckled, and she glared darkly at him.

"The sooner we're out of this forest, the better. I hate trees." Link frowned and shrugged, "Well, get used to them. They're everywhere here."

He beckoned up towards his house, "Come on, I'll pack some food for you. I'm afraid all I've got is my own tunics for traveling, so you'll either be getting really cold or just using one of mine." He climbed swiftly up the stairs, girl at his heels.

"Nothing for it I guess. Where's the tunic?" He pointed up the stairs, "I had folded some and set them on top of the chest up there. Take your pick."

A few minutes later, two packs were set, and the sound of the girl coming back down was heard. She had decided to use a gray one that he had never really come around to using. He still preferred the green ones he had in a separate chest.

Despite their size difference, the tunic seemed to fit snugly enough. Then he remembered that the tunic had been given him a while back, before Midna or Ganon. Regardless, she looked impatient.

"Can we leave?"

He shrugged, "I guess." He went over to a corner, where a large chest was sitting. He tugged on the latch, and the chest came easily open. He smiled fleetingly at the collection of weapons and instruments. He reached in and removed the Ordonian sword and shield, as well as his bow. He crossed back to the girl, holding out the bow.

"Any good with this?" she nodded her head, staring intently at the weapon. He let her take it, and went to a small rack that held a plethora of carefully laid out bowstrings. He picked out a new one, and handed it to her, "go ahead and string it. We could run into anything on our way out of the forest.

She did so, and they picked up their packs and slung them over their shoulders. Link had to strap the sword and sheath to his waist, so it wouldn't be scraped against the pack. He left the shield on his back. It was easily replaceable, unlike the metal one he had upstairs.

He was just about to leave, when her voice sounded out, "I'm Zimera."

Turning to her in surprise, he answered, "Nice to meet you." She scratched her head, "I figured it wouldn't do to travel with someone without knowing each other's names."

He poked a thumb to his chest, "I'm Link."

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Link was holding a recently captured, though badly burnt lizard out on a stick to her, "It's tasty, that's what it is."

She scrunched her nose, "I'll pass." She dug into her pack to bring out a piece of bread.

They had made it out of the forest without incident, and were camped out on the Hyrule Plains. The sounds of the night-time animals were everywhere. Link shrugged and leaned back on his pack, taking a bite. As he chewed he looked up at the crescent moon.

"About two days and we'll reach the castle."

Zimera nodded silently. She hadn't talked much at all so far, except to ask to rest. But out here she was especially reserved. She would shift suddenly to stare out into the dark every now and then. Link hardly reacted to this, because he didn't hear or see anything to be concerned with. But she continued to do so for long enough that he finally had to say something.

"You know, nothing's out there. You can relax." She drew her arms around her.

"I don't like open spaces, especially not in the dark, when I can't see anything coming."

Link smiled empathetically, "You must have spent a lot of time in cities. I like the outdoors. Inside it's hard to maneuver, and--" He stopped short, and his head jerked up alertly.

She tensed, "What's wrong?"

His sapphire eyes narrowed, making his face much less friendly, "I don't……" His head tilted, and he was standing, sword and shield raised, "Kargorocs!"

Her expression was of confusion, "What?"

A sudden, guttural shriek sounded above them, met with several others. A dark, winged shape arced down into the light of the fire, passing feet away from Link before losing its left wing in a scream of pain. Zimera stared at the winged beast as it thrashed around. It resembled a lizard, somewhat. Her thoughts were interrupted as Link crossed the camp and shoved her shoulder with his shield, "Get the bow!"

Breaking out of her observant state of mind, she had hardly enough time to bring the bow up with an arrow before she realized she had unstrung it for the night. Growling in frustration, a shadow passing into the corner of her eye caused to her bring the bow around like a club. The hardened wood smashed into the nose of the offending kargoroc, leaving it stunned and twitching in the dirt.

Zimera dropped down and swiped the bowstring up from on top of her pack and attempted to restring it, while Link, returned to his position across the camp, had cut down two more of the dragon-like fiends. He heard a small shout of triumph as Zimera managed to get the bow ready. Then, a shriek, rather low to the ground, but approaching quickly caught his attention. He spun around to meet the beast, but his swing stopped when an arrow whistled past and buried itself in the throat of the kargoroc.

As it hit the ground and skidded past him before dragging to a stop, he looked to Zimera and grinned, "Nice shot."

Above them, the remaining lizards called to each other and winged off into the night, allowing the peaceful sounds of wildlife return.

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Couldn't just let 'em walk around. No fun at all. Lemme know what you think.

Peace, 'till next chapter.


	5. A Confrontation

Due to the few folks reviewing, I've decided to be lenient and update

Due to the few folks reviewing, I've decided to be lenient and update. Not to mention I DID say I would after I updated Oblivion Crisis………..Poptarts rule……….oh ya, the disclaimer…..

AHEM

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my story and my characters. So if any lawyers wanna have a go, I got my garlic and holy water ready.

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Chapter 5

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Zimera was whining most profusely by the time they came within sight of Hyrule Castle Town. Link bore it most graciously in his opinion. He'd be happy once he dropped her with Zelda. He finally had a reason to talk to the Princess.

Link had liberated his bow after she'd tried to smack him in the head with it for not letting her rest. Obviously, she wasn't use to excessive traveling. They'd met very little wildlife on the way here, aside from little game.

They bore down on the capital city. They were perhaps within three hundred yards when Link smelled the smoke. His head perked up and he stared out at the city. There was an oily black trail of smoke drifting from somewhere near the castle. The young man's pace quickened, and he tossed the bow back to Zimera, along with the quiver.

She noticed his agitation, and quickly strapped on the quiver. Link hadn't drawn his blade, but he'd suddenly gone tense. "What's the matter?"

He didn't slow down, "That smell isn't wood smoke. There's no festivals anytime soon.

They approached the southern gate at a run. The fact that it was open would have been normal………..If there wasn't giant chunks taken out of the center of it. He skidded to a halt and touched the smashed edges, "Scorched……….Magic or some kind of explosive."

He reached up to pull his sword from its sheath, and he brought his shield out as well. He moved in through the gate, and stared around. Whatever had had blasted through here, it had taken out several guards, and the bodies of townspeople were strewn around as well.

A sound of swords clanging sent Link running to the center of town. They emerged on a chaos wrecked scene, with many surfaces torn to bits. The sounds of combat were coming from the three figures near the path that led to the castle gate.

Link paused to watch the three for a moment. One of them was someone he knew; Ashei, the Knight's daughter that was now a part of the Adventurers' Guild. She was wielding her rapier with deadly grace. The second was a man dressed in armor that resembled that of a Hylian soldier, but it was more elaborately designed than most Link had seen, leading him to assume it was Reldva, the captain of Castle Town's guard. He used a simple short sword. Both Ashei and the captain were fighting against a massive, armored individual.

He threw around a giant barbed broad sword like it was nothing. Ashei and Reldva were fighting strongly, but an unexpected lash from the giant's foot sent the captain backwards in a heap, his armor scraping an ear-wrenching sound off of the stone. Now it was Ashei and the giant, who had a definite advantage. He brought his sword smashing down to barely miss the agile fighter.

As Ashei circled around to try and get a swipe at the behemoth's back, he swung his blade full circle in the opposite direction, catching her off guard. Though she managed to pull her blade up to keep the broad sword from cleaving her in half, the force of the attack brought her to the ground with the wind knocked out of her.

The man gave a guttural laugh of triumph, and raised his blade to slash down on Ashei. Expecting to heat flesh and bone being split apart, he was caught by surprise when instead his sword bounced off something metal. Looking down in surprise at a blue and white shield, the giant had barely enough time to register the green-clad man before an arrow drove into his shoulder.

With an exclamation of pain, the man staggered back, and the man in green arced through the air to throw a downward slash into the man's helm.

Much to Link's dismay, his blade glanced off the helmet.

The enormous man retaliated by bringing his sword around horizontally, which the young Hylian dodged with ease. As he backed away out of the man's long reach, Zimera loosed another arrow. This time, the giant moved quickly enough to avoid it.

"Little insects, why must you be so bothersome? I simply wished to find a way to my own world, but you make it so difficult." His voice was deep, baritone.

Link snorted, "You picked the wrong way to ask for help."

"Link, be careful, this man is the reason you found me half dead!" Zimera said with a furious edge to her voice, the bow pulled tight, with an arrow ready.

"Oh, if it isn't the little witch, just the one I was looking for!" The giant shifted, and started to charge at Zimera, "I'll rend you to pieces for bringing me to this place!"

He had perhaps closed half the distance when a brilliant white light cut across his vision. A long javelin of pure light blazed straight into his side, and he found himself picked up and carried out several yards away, smashing down to the stone with a metallic crunch.

Link, who had moved to intercept the man's attack on Zimera, turned to the northern edge of the square. There, with her estoc still glowing with the deadly light, was Zelda, dressed in her usual attire. Her sapphire eyes were serene almost, and Link straightened up and grinned at her, "Afternoon, Zelda."

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gasp Zelda saved someone instead of getting in the way! Ain't I just the bugger, going all OOC

No, I did try to keep Link IC, but I seriously wanted Zelda to be useful for once, so I broke her usual pattern of whining from the side-lines and shooting light arrows………

Anywho, review please. I'm off to bed.


	6. Catastrophe

Hello to my few angelic reviewers and my non-reviewing hellions alike!

I return after playing through the old LoZ's with the inspiration to continue (to the enjoyment of my few loyal reviewers I hope xP)

Disclaimer: I, the laziest genius in the land, Scarecrow-Alone, hereby claim no ownership of the wonderful Legend of Zelda series. I merely reign over my own constructs, nothing more.

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Chapter 6

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Zelda smiled and graciously inclined her head towards Link, "Good evening."

Zimera pushed past Link and ran almost full-tilt towards Zelda. The Princess recoiled in surprise as the girl grasped her free hand and dropped to a kneel, "Finally! Good Princess, I came to warn of you of the evil that now walks in your world!" She turned and gestured to the un-moving armored man, whom Link had moved to check.

The green-clad boy knelt and tapped his sword against the silver helmet. When no response was given, he stood back up and moved a few paces away to observe the two womens' conversation.

Zelda had gingerly freed her hand from Zimera's grasp, "Please, stand. You travel in Link's company; I expect no royal treatment from you."

Zimera's head tilted to the side slightly, and she looked at Link, "You know eachother?"

A chuckle came from the middle of the square, where Ashei was approaching with the injured Reldva supported on her shoulder.

Ashei jerked her head towards Link, "I should hope the Princess would know the greatest hero in her realm."

The Princess smiled, "Yes, the Hero of Time is rather hard to miss."

Zimera went rigid, and turned to glare at Link with an expression that a lesser being would have quailed under. That's not to say he didn't take an involuntary step backwards.

"_You're_ the Hero of Time?!" She said through gritted teeth. Link shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "Last time I heard."

Zimera took a deep breath and turned back to Princess Zelda, "Kind of disappointing, but I'll live." She muttered too low for Zelda to hear. The metal clanking of armored feet sounded behind Zelda. A fresh squad of soldier lined up as her impromptu Honor Guard.

She moved around Zimera to approach Ashei and Reldva. She lowered her face to the Captain's eye level, "Are you alright, Rel?" He grunted his affirmation, and Zelda gestured towards the castle, "Ashei, if you would please help the good Captain to the castle apothecaries, they will treat his wounds. And please inform my advisors that I will take no part in their problems today, I must speak with an old friend."

Zelda turned to look at Link just in time to see the behemoth of a man rising to his feet, sword in hand, behind Link, who saw her look of surprise, and spun around to bring his own blade to meet the massive sword that came crashing down like a meteor.

Ordonian steel met obsidian with strength that made Link's legs buckle. The giant raised his sword again and swung it back down too fast for Link to counter, and their blades were forced against eachother again.

This time, the Ordonian sword, not made for such punishment, split at the center. A metallic twang accompanied the death of the trusty blade. The giant's sword was also damaged, but in a different way.

One of the barbs on the blade had broken away, and by some unseen malevolence, seemed to draw itself towards the Hero of Time like an arrow. The black shard buried itself within Link's shoulder, who gave a brief cry of pain, and grasped the point where the shard had hit. He looked up at the silver helm defiantly for a split second, before a second blaze of light struck the behemoth.

This was not the same controlled burst that had rendered the man unconscious before. This was a blow brought from an unbridled outpour of power. The light seemed to burn and peel at the giant's armor, pieces of it flying off with a punishing screeching of steel. Then the illuminated figure of the man was borne like a feather in a hurricane backwards, crashing into the wall with force strong enough to split and crack the stone.

All eyes but Link's turned to the furious form of Zelda, whom was marching towards Link. She moved around to his front, and knelt to bring him face to face. He was still holding his wound, as though to staunch the flow of blood. But there was obviously no pressure put into it, as the stream of crimson life flowed freely through his fingers. His eyes seemed distant.

Zelda put a hand on his unharmed shoulder, "Link, are you alright?" As if on cue, Link's body gave a violent spasm, and he fell forward into her arms. She looked up and gave a rapid bout of orders. Her Guard sprang forward to obey, and Link was hoisted up and carried between four of the soldiers. With Zelda leading the way, Zimera hot on her heels, they entered the castle, Link suddenly howling in pain.

Other soldiers were sent out to contain the armored man, but somehow, in the bare few minutes that no one was watching him, the silver warrior was gone, leaving behind an assortment of whole and fragmented pieces of armor, alongside a beautiful silver helm. Soldiers swarmed over the city, demanding to know if anyone had seen an unknown man about, or fleeing.

None had. The man wasn't the only thing missing. The blade he'd been wielding had vanished as well.

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Now review, you blighters. I worked hard on that. xP


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